On the fourteenth day of the first lunar month of the fifth year of Xuanping, Dongchen Village.
Chen Lifu got up early in the morning. After getting dressed and having breakfast with the maids waiting on him, he got into a carriage and entered the city with a few followers.
Chen Lifu's clothes today are different from those in the past. They are not casual clothes, but the Confucian clothes often worn by officials of the Tang Dynasty. Outsiders also call them official clothes. This official clothes are worn by several old ladies in the family.
It was made over the past few days because Chen Lifu was going to wear it into the city today and go to the Literary and Selection Department of the Ministry of Rites to participate in the selection of officials.
This kind of official Confucianism was adapted from the Confucian uniform worn by traditional scholars.
The general style is similar to traditional Confucian clothing, but there are differences in details, such as seams and textures, and the overall tone is more stable.
However, it is worth noting that the Tang Dynasty did not force officials to wear what clothes, because the status of officials was only different styles of metal badges, such as copper badges for the eighth grade and below, and silver badges for the seventh to fourth grades.
Breast badges, gold badges of third grade or above, and the patterns on them are also different.
However, as it became a common practice, in recent years, Confucian uniforms have quietly become the common official uniforms of most officials.
Although Chen Lifu is now wearing the same Confucian uniform as many officials of the Tang Dynasty, he is not wearing a badge representing his rank. This means that he is not yet an official of the Tang Dynasty.
After being renovated a few years ago, the official road into the city has become much wider and smoother. The carriage can run smoothly and quickly on it. In addition, Xichen Village is originally on the outskirts of the city, so we can quickly reach the city gate and enter the city as usual.
As usual, Chen Lifu didn't need to give instructions this time. The entourage paid the money directly, and then the group entered the city directly through the express lane.
After entering the city, the carriage went directly to the Libu Yamen. After the entourage handed over an invitation letter and reported his life, Chen Lifu was able to enter the Libu Yamen. Naturally, his entourage could not follow him in.
Instead, he went to the side room specially designed for bearers, coachmen and others to rest and stay.
After entering the official yamen, Chen Lifu found that everyone in the yamen was in a hurry. People entering and leaving some office rooms were rushing in and out. He glanced at one of the houses through the half-open door and window.
, I saw four or five people inside, all with their heads buried in copywriting, looking busy.
Li Tang's Yamen looks different from Zhu Ming's Yamen.
He had been to this place many times before, because it used to be the yamen of the Nanjing Civil Service Department of the Ming Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty just changed the sign at the door and regarded these as their own civil service yamen.
However, he also heard that although all departments in Jinling City are now complete, most of the people in charge are ministers and there are not many people. The ministers of various ministries and more officials from various ministries are still in Zhaoqing.
However, he also learned from the Tang Dynasty newspaper that the Holy Emperor will set off to Jinling City in a short time. Maybe in a month or two, the official office will be even more crowded!
Under the guidance of a clerk who led the way, he entered a side room to wait, but he was obviously not the only person in the room. There were already five people here before him.
Including him, there are a total of six people here.
Among these six people, he also recognized three of them. They were all officials like him. Although he had never met the other two, he had heard of their names. Even if he dug deeper,
If you have a good relationship, you can also have relationships with people who are in the same year, classmates, senior fellow students, etc.
But most of the people who come here are preoccupied. Like Chen Lifu, everyone comes here to elect officials, and when they entered the room, the person leading the way had already said that there were offices on the left and right next door.
There is an adult in the office on the left who has a bad temper and is most taboo about making loud noises.
It would be fine if he is an ordinary adult, but the adult who works in the office next door is the director of the Evaluation Department of the Ministry of Personnel and is a senior official of the fourth rank. If you offend this person, when you become an official in the future, he will do anything to you.
If you make things difficult and smile, the evaluation will not be so good.
So everyone consciously said a few simple greetings, then closed their mouths and sat down.
After waiting for a quarter of an hour, one of them was called away by a clerk from outside. A few minutes later, another person was called away.
People kept being called away, and in the process, several more people came one after another.
Chen Lifu looked at the time and then at the people who came in before him. He estimated that it wouldn't be long before it was his turn. Fortunately, he left early today, otherwise it would have been a waste of time.
Sure enough, about a quarter of an hour later, someone called Chen Lifu's name. Chen Lifu immediately stood up, straightened his clothes slightly, and then followed him.
Following the clerk who led the way, he was taken to an office soon, and there were three people sitting inside. Chen Lifu naturally would not neglect him at this time, and he did not dare to pretend to be a top three Jinshi, because he was already a
I saw the badges of the three people in front of me. The leader was clearly a high-ranking official of the third rank, while the other two were a fourth-rank official and a fifth-rank official.
You don't need to guess to know that these people should be senior officials in the Ministry of Personnel.
He immediately said respectfully: "The junior Chen Lifu has met all of you!"
At this time, the fourth-rank official sitting on one side spoke: "Sit down, time is tight, let's get started!"
Then the three people above didn't say any nonsense and just asked questions. Most of the questions they asked were about Chen Lifu's career experience in the past. Chen Lifu naturally did not hide anything, although his career path was very complicated.
It was short-lived, but it was not because of other reasons, but because he was dismissed from office because of the impeachment of Yan Song.
This kind of thing is considered quite prestigious in Shilin.
But then, the people above began to ask Chen Lifu in detail why he was impeached, for what reasons, and what specific evidence there was. Chen Lifu was dumbfounded by the question. How could he have any evidence at that time? He was just young and had a fever in his head.
I just wrote a few random things next time, nothing more than hearing about the incident.
After answering this, he couldn't tell how the adults above him felt about him. About a quarter of an hour later, the adults above said that the conversation was almost over and asked him to go out and wait first, but don't leave first.
Detailed arrangements will be made soon.
With an uneasy mood, Chen Lifu went out and was taken to another wing to wait. By coincidence, the same people from before were there.
There were obviously no rules against loud noises in this wing, and there were tea and snacks on display, and a few of them were still chatting freely.
When those few people saw Chen Lifu coming in, one of them said: "Brother Chen, we were talking about you earlier. How about it? We had a good chat with the adults just now. Among the others, you have the best reputation.
The elected officials will definitely be entrusted with important tasks this time!"
When Chen Lifu heard this, he thought of the situation when he answered the question just now. That scene was not a scene of happy conversation!
He immediately said: "There, Chen just had a casual chat with the three adults. As for the results of the official selection, it naturally depends on the adults' wishes. Moreover, Chen also heard that many seniors have also come out.
, if we want to be entrusted with important responsibilities, it should also be the seniors. It would be good for us juniors to have official status."
But the man said: "You can't say that. I have asked about it. Although most officials like me and others can participate in this selection of officials, the position of the selected officials is not all determined by the previous government.
Regarding his resume, I heard a few days ago that there was an old man who served as a minister in the previous dynasty, but in the end he was only awarded the sixth rank!"
"Really?" Chen Lifu was casually surprised in his words, but he didn't take it seriously. This is for sure. He is from the Li Tang Dynasty, not the former Ming Dynasty. If a senior official of the Ming Dynasty wanted to change his identity, he would be in Li Tang Dynasty.
It is impossible for the dynasty to restore its former power.
Chen Lifu guessed that the Li Tang Dynasty conducted such an official selection to win over people's hearts. How could it be possible to give any real positions of high-ranking officials with real power?
And Chen Lifu's guess was not wrong. In fact, the purpose of such an official election in the Tang Dynasty was to win over people's hearts, stabilize Jiangnan, build political momentum, and promote public opinion. Otherwise, it would not have been carried out with such fanfare.
A large-scale election of officials.
Although there is indeed some factor in it to make up for the shortage of officials, this is only a minor factor. To really supplement officials, the Tang Dynasty relied on imperial examinations and internal selection.
The lower-level officials are supplemented by a large number of civil servants, while the middle- and high-level officials are naturally promoted mainly from within.
On the one hand, it is a question of ability and experience. It is better to select someone from within who has been an official of the Tang Dynasty for several years than to find a random person from the outside. On the other hand, it is actually for rewards.
They followed you, Li Xuan, to rebel, not just for promotion and wealth.
Military generals were promoted step by step during the expansion of the army, and civilian officials were also promoted after the gradual expansion of territory. The county magistrate was promoted to the position of magistrate, and even became the prefect in one step. The prefect was promoted to Taoist officials, envoys, and envoys were promoted to governors.
Except that the positions of cabinet ministries are not easy to change, local officials are basically promoted very quickly.
While Chen Lifu was chatting with people outside, in an office inside, several officials started discussing with Chen Lifu's resume. Naturally, these officials were not the senior officials who had chatted with Chen Lifu before, but officials.
Ordinary officials of the Ministry.
"Director Xu and the others have already narrowed down the general scope. Well, this Chen Lifu should be assigned to serve in departments directly under the cabinet ministries. He cannot be placed in charge of local administration. His duties are mainly for grinding!"
One of them looked at the comments on his resume and said: "In terms of grade, it must be the seventh grade!"
"Everyone is looking around to see if there are any suitable seats. The position of the seventh grade is currently lacking in many departments. Look, that position is relatively short of people."
At that moment, the few people started to look through the files, and soon someone said: "There are still a few inspectors missing from the Grain Collection Department of the Taxation Department. They happen to be in the seventh grade. The Taxation Department has urged us several times to ask us to hurry up.
Send a few people there!"
"Inspection of the Grain Collection Department? Isn't this the inspection of the tax inspection team? This position has a heavy responsibility, and it is easy to offend people. I'm afraid he won't be able to handle it as a newcomer!
At this time, someone else said: "Whatever, since the tax department is pressing hard, it's up to him. There are still a lot of people behind here to deal with, so hurry up, otherwise, you will have to work overtime tonight!"